Ruger’s SR9 pistol is, according to the accompanying instruction booklet (a must-read), “Ruger’s first centerfire, striker-fired, magazine fed, autoloading, recoil-operated pistol chambered for the 9mm cartridge. The…SR9 incorporates a different ‘link-less’ design in the barrel locking/unlocking system than earlier Rugers P-Series pistols…[it] features a streamlined slide [stainless steel-WR] and …glass-filled nylon grip frame.”

The Ruger manual continues to point out the SR9 uses modular construction such that the steel camblock assembly, which contains the barrel locking system, the recoil absorption block and steel slide rails, as well as the trigger mechanism assembly, are stand-alone units. The SR9 also has ambidextrous thumb safeties nicely placed at the top rear of the frame and an ambidextrous magazine catch located on the frame behind the lower part of the triggerguard.